


as you are

by andnowforyaya



Series: as you are (himdaelo pet au) [1]
Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Arranged Marriage, M/M, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 12:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6957271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andnowforyaya/pseuds/andnowforyaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The peace would be honored through a marriage.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Daehyun travels to Himchan's kingdom for a month-long courtship before the wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	as you are

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fade131](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fade131/gifts).



> For Fade! Happy (early) birthday. You are a precious human being and I am so grateful to have met you.

The peace would be honored through a marriage. Daehyun’s future husband, Kim Himchan, was every bit the first-born, favored son. His face was said to be perfect like the moon, with sharp features like a fox’s, and his presence already that of a king’s.

Daehyun looked down at his hanbok, the collar threatening to slip past his narrow shoulders, and felt small. Sometimes, he watched when the cooks in the palace took a lamb out to slaughter for a meal, though he always turned away before the deed was done, and this was what he felt like now. The lamb.

“There isn’t anything for you to worry about, Your Highness,” Jongup was saying as he finished tying the closure of Daehyun’s red and white hanbok, no doubt noticing the apprehension on Daehyun’s face. They were to travel by carriage, and this hanbok was lighter and roomier than the others in his collection. “I’ve heard of Prince Himchan’s kindness and his even temperament. He won’t treat you poorly.”

“It’s not that,” Daehyun said, wrinkling his nose. “I know why I’m doing this. I just can’t help but feel like cattle exchanging hands. If only my brother weren’t already betrothed.”

“Your brother will be king,” Jongup said dutifully. “But this way, you get to be king, too.”

“Don’t fool yourself,” Daehyun snapped. He pulled his sleeve away from Jongup harshly, who had been smoothing it. He doubted he’d have any more sway than a bed-slave who had already been cast aside. “I won’t have any power there.”

Jongup flushed a light pink over the swell of his cheeks and bridge of his nose. He looked down, averting his gaze, and Daehyun felt a prickle of guilt in his chest. He held his sleeve out again for Jongup to take, and his servant resumed his ministrations.

“I apologize. I’m nervous. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

Jongup hummed, nodding to accept the apology. “It’s alright, Your Highness.”

Daehyun caught Jongup’s eyes with his own and held them, emotion swelling like a tide just under the surface of his skin. The kingdom where Himchan’s family ruled was a cold nation, its people done up in restrictive, thick clothing. Their customs were not as tight as the way they dressed, however, and Daehyun felt the coil of anxiety tighten in his gut when he thought about what might be expected of him. “You’ll be my only friend there, Jongup,” Daehyun said. “What if Prince Himchan doesn’t like me?”

Jongup’s fingers grazed over Daehyun’s wrist in a brief, comforting stroke. Familiar. He said, “I’m sure you’ll make many friends, Daehyun. I’m sure he’ll like you.”

.

The courting period would take place over the course of a month. This was customary, even though the wedding date had already been set. During this time, Daehyun would move into the palace of his future husband, and Himchan would set the courtship in motion with the offering of a gift.

Daehyun, who had heard of Himchan’s talent in music, had commissioned a _gayageum_ to be made from a single piece of wood, decorated by delicate mother-of-pearl peonies across one side. It would be presented to Himchan only after Daehyun accepted Himchan’s gift, which Himchan had yet to bestow upon him two days after Daehyun’s arrival.

The colors here were different from Daehyun’s home in Busan; here everything was rich, dark wood and saturated greens and blues like emeralds and sapphires. Daehyun had come from a land that emulated the colors of a sunrise, and he felt bulky in the stiff hanboks and robes the Queen had given him upon seeing his chest of soft, thin clothes. He had brought a coat with him, but knew it would be silly to wear it around constantly, inside the palace.

Daehyun lay in his bed, exhausted still from traveling and feeling the ache of distance from his home. The room was large and faced the sun as it rose, allowing gold light to spill in from the windows in the mornings. Now, the moon shone silver, giving the illusion of frost on every surface it touched. Images from dinner flashed behind his eyelids when he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

Himchan had been sitting by the King and Daehyun by the Queen at dinner, the many dishes for the meal served on low tables before them. The room was set up like a large horseshoe, with Himchan, the King, the Queen, and Daehyun making up the bend. Other members of the court and guests sat down a line on either side, at a level lower than the royalty. On flat cushions behind their masters sat pets or servants. You could tell who was a pet and who was a servant by the amount of clothing they wore. Though the air was cool and crisp, the pets wore little more than the collars on their necks.

Daehyun couldn’t look at any one pet for long. They were practiced in their sensuality, and comfortable in it, and Daehyun was not. He felt awkward and gangly around them, childishly innocent. His older brother had partaken in pets and even had one himself, and he was more than certain Himchan had taken his fair share of pets, as well, but Daehyun had never so much as spoken to one. The pets of Himchan’s kingdom were rumoured to be of the finest quality, beautiful and devoted and subservient, and Daehyun could see this was true to some degree. All the pets here were gorgeous, glittering in jewels that were like dew glinting off spiderwebs in the morning sun.

Jongup, Daehyun thought, had all the makings of a lovely pet, but he flushed at the thought of Jongup behaving the way a pet might, feeding him from his fingers, whispering in his ear, _serving_ him.

It felt strange to him.

It was not that Daehyun didn’t like such things, but that he didn’t ever feel he should be on the receiving end of such attentions. Rather, Daehyun wanted to _give_ , and pets, generally, were not trained to take.

He sought to distract himself from such thoughts. If Daehyun leaned forward a bit and peered to the right, he could see Himchan. More than once, the Queen caught him looking and lifted the corners of her lips at him. Earlier in the day, they’d walked the gardens together. She hadn’t been particularly talkative, which meant she had also not been unkind.

Himchan looked like his mother, the Queen. With high, sharp cheekbones and a thin nose, his face was softly beautiful, his long black hair tied in a knot on top of his head. Daehyun’s nose was much larger, his cheeks not so sharp. His skin was not pale like the moon but rather darkened by the sun, glowing in a different way. He stood out here, among these people who lived in the elevated chill of the mountains. He missed the beach, the sand, the ocean. He ate his food with an absent mind and heart.

Himchan spoke with his father about trade routes and taxes and politics -- all subjects Daehyun had found boring and had never been encouraged to pursue past what was elementary and vital. Daehyun wasn’t the first son, after all. He had never been meant to rule.

He had wanted Himchan to look at him. To acknowledge him and sneak glances at him the way he was sneaking glances at Himchan.

As though he had willed it enough, that was when Himchan looked over.

He must have just said something funny. His father the King was laughing heartily, and many of the other guests were chuckling alongside him. Himchan said, in a voice that was low and full-bodied like wine, “Are you finding everything you need in the palace, Your Highness?”

His attention was too much. Daehyun had turned away with cheeks flaming, and more laughter erupted from the guests dining with them, from the other nobles and members of the court. The Queen giggled elegantly behind the long sleeve of her hanbok.

Daehyun ate the rest of the meal in silence with his eyes looking only at his food, though Jongup whispered behind him that everything would be okay, that conversation had moved on. Even now, in bed, his face burned with the embarrassment of looking like a child with a crush in court. Like Himchan was some dashing prince and Daehyun the blushing commoner.

He squeezed his eyes shut harder, and felt tears leaking from the corners of them. He missed his brother. He missed his parents, the sounds of waves crashing against the shoreline. He missed his _home._

Fitfully, Daehyun slept, dreaming of the sea.

.

In the morning, Daehyun awoke to the sun filtering through the papered windows and the scent of cedar and something sweet, like honey. He’d awoken a short while ago to a rustling noise, but thought it must have been Jongup in his room adjacent Daehyun’s, getting ready for the day.

Daehyun sat up, expecting Jongup to be near with a cup of cool water, as he normally was.

Instead, another boy was kneeling at the foot of Daehyun’s bed, his broad shoulders hunched and bare. He was in linen pants and nothing else, save for a plain leather collar around his neck.

Daehyun gasped, pushing himself up higher on the bed and tightening the blankets around him, covering himself up to his shoulders. “Who are you?” he demanded, blinking the last remnants of sleep from his eyes.

“A gift,” the boy said, “from Prince Himchan.”

“What?” Daehyun asked, not understanding. “Who are you? Where’s Jongup?”

“Jongup is in his room and aware of my presence,” the boy assured Daehyun. “I have a letter from Prince Himchan for you to read, if you would like, Your Highness.”

“I think that would be best,” Daehyun said.

The boy stilled in his position, as though considering, before standing slowly and bringing a letter out from the folds of his pants, sealed in wax and stamped. He shuffled forward a few steps to Daehyun’s bedside, looming for a moment.

The short moment was long enough for Daehyun to consider the other’s size, and his face. He had a boyish look, with a button-like nose and innocent eyes, this at odds with the sculpted muscle across his chest and stomach. His arms, Daehyun thought, looked about the size of Daehyun’s calves. He was decorated in silver: silver bracelets and earrings and a silver ring at the center of his collar and a silver stud in the side of his nose. He was tall, too, so that Daehyun had to tilt his head back to glare up at him before the boy quickly kneeled again, keeping his eyes lowered. Though his pose was one of deference, Daehyun could see the beginnings of a smirk on the boy’s face, like he could tell Daehyun was examining him.

“The letter?” Daehyun prompted again. The boy gave it to him. Daehyun snatched it from him, breaking the seal quickly and unrolling the paper to read.

 _My Dearest Prince Daehyun_ , it began, _Rumors of your beauty do you no justice. How can one describe the moon to another who is blind? I feel blind before you, unable to see anything past your exquisite beauty._

Daehyun bit back a laugh. So Himchan _had_ noticed him, and even tried to write a bit of something like poetry.

 _Please do not be alarmed by the boy before you,_ the letter continued. _His name is Junhong, and he is my gift to you. He has been trained as a pet for many years, and I have picked him personally as I believe he would match your tastes. He is playful and obedient, and practiced in your customs. Use him well. Yours, Himchan._

Daehyun read the letter over twice more, and finally rolled it back up again, pink-cheeked. Junhong was looking at him with a smug look bordering on disrespect, which only sent more heat to Daehyun’s cheeks. “So,” Daehyun said. “Prince Himchan has given you to me.”

“It appears so, Your Highness,” Junhong said, his grin reminding Daehyun of a cat about to knock over a cup full of tea. “From this day forth, I am your pet.”

.

 


End file.
